Is Valentine’s Day A Pagan Celebration and should Christians Celebrate it??

February is the month of love with many countries celebrating what is popularly known as Valentine’s Day. It is the second most popular card sending day after Christmas and 85% of these cards are bought by the females. Valentine’s Day is rather a hard one to explain because it tends to be more a myth than actual events. This coupled with the many different Valentine’s Day stories of origin makes one wonder whether it is worth celebrating.

First of all, there are so many Saints called Valentine including a female virgin (St Valentina) who is said to have been martyred in Palestine on July 25, A.D. 308. Some writings also cite the role of Geoffrey Chaucer, a poet as the possible source of origin for the now famous Valentines day. Is Valentine’s Day a pagan celebration? Some writings relate Valentine’s Day to the Lupercalia festival which took place from the 13th to the 15th February. It involved sacrifices offered to the god Lupercus who is associated with the Roman god Faunus.

The account accepted by most christians is that of a priest named Valentine who secretly wedded couples against the wishes of the ruler of his time. Roman Emperor Claudius II who prohibited single men from marrying because he believed they made better soldiers. Valentine, a priest defied his command and thus was captured, imprisoned and tortured. In the midst of the so many stories one wonders which one is worth believing and whether this very popular day of celebration of love is something to embrace?

On top of that, Valentine’s Day has come to be one of the loneliest days in the world for single ladies and gentlemen. Why many should allow the association of love that is valid for a Valentine’s Day celebration to be that between couples is something to ponder? Some people have made their Valentine’s celebration a day to celebrate their loved ones including brothers, sisters, friends and the needy.

We here looked for the facts about Valentine’s Day and shared so that you tell us whether a Christian should celebrate Valentine’s Day and if yes/no, tell us why in the comments section.